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This Section: Monitor, Report, Evaluate, Improve (MREI)
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Monitor, Report, Evaluate to Improve (MREI) - Overview
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Monitoring, Reporting, Evaluation & Improvement (MREI) systems should inform policymakers, officials and practitioners in several sectors about student access to schooling and their success in learning about their health, personal and social development, about child and adolescent behaviours, related determinants or factors and the reach and status of school-based and school-linked policies, practices and programs. MREI systems should track the capacities of various frameworks to coordinate these interventions, which include the physical conditions and psycho-social environments of schools, the accessibility and quality of school-based and school-linked student and staff services, the effectiveness of instruction and extended educational activities and the involvement of students, parents and communities in promoting the inclusion and equitable educational success of all children and the development of the whole child.
Reliable indicators of relevant social, economic, cultural and family factors (context), student health and development status and behaviours (inputs), ministry, agency, school and professional practices, policies, programs and capacities (processes), equitable student access & success, in-school health, safety and behaviours and student learning about health/personal-social development (outputs) should be the basis of MREI systems. These school-related indicators should be linked and contribute to health and social development over the life course. However, school programs should not be expected achieve life-long and societal changes alone or in isolation from pre-school, post-secondary and other programs. The essential purpose of MREI systems and activities should be to support self-directed, coherent, continuous improvement at all levels across several systems rather than impose external, arbitrary accountability on front-line professionals or schools. MREI systems should gather, analyze and act on data from a variety of sources and sectors. There are several monitoring & reporting strategies that can lead to systemic improvements, including commissioned reports in different formats and regular updates, school-focused award/accreditation programs and periodic policy/program surveys. Self-assessment tools and school recognition/incentive programs may motivate innovations but sustained improvements will come from data-driven, collaborative decision-making embedded within the established improvement planning procedures of ministries, agencies and schools such as school improvement planning and joint sector reviews. A better understanding of how MREI processes can be strengthened, how they can fit better within systems approaches and how MREI systems lead to well-planned, sustainable systems change strategies is needed. This summary was first posted in June 2010 and revised in 2016 and 2021. Currently it has been posted as a "first edition" version. The following individuals or organizations have contributed to the development of this topic; Albert Lee, Christine Beyer, Nancy Hudson, Candace Currie, Vivian Barnekow,Said Arnaout,Suleiman El Shehri, Raj’a Omar, Faten Ben Abdel Aziz, Lloyd J. Kolbe, Sean Slade, Seung Lee, Dean Brooks, Doug McCall. We encourage readers to submit comments or suggested edits by posting a comment on the Mini-blog & Discussion Page for this section or posting a comment below: Monitoring, Reporting, Evaluation & Improvement (MREI) systems should inform policymakers, officials and practitioners in several sectors about student access to schooling and their success in learning about their health, personal and social development, about child and adolescent behaviours, related determinants or factors and the reach and status of school-based and school-linked policies, practices and programs. MREI systems should track the capacities of various frameworks to coordinate these interventions, which include the physical conditions and psycho-social environments of schools, the accessibility and quality of school-based and school-linked student and staff services, the effectiveness of instruction and extended educational activities and the involvement of students, parents and communities in promoting the inclusion and equitable educational success of all children and the development of the whole child.
Reliable indicators of relevant social, economic, cultural and family factors (context), student health and development status and behaviours (inputs), ministry, agency, school and professional practices, policies, programs and capacities (processes), equitable student access & success, in-school health, safety and behaviours and student learning about health/personal-social development (outputs) should be the basis and scope of MREI systems. These school-related indicators should be linked and contribute to health and social development over the life course. However, school programs should not be expected achieve such life-long and societal changes alone or in isolation from pre-school, post-secondary and other programs. The essential purpose of MREI systems and activities should be to support self-directed, coherent, continuous improvement at all levels across several systems rather than impose external, arbitrary accountability on front-line professionals or schools. MREI systems should gather, analyze and act on data from a variety of sources and sectors, including those reporting on child and adolescent participation in schooling, health and social development. There are several monitoring & reporting strategies that can lead to systemic improvements, including regular reports and updates, school-focused award/accreditation programs and periodic policy/program surveys. Self-assessment tools and school recognition/incentive programs may motivate innovations but sustained improvements will come from data-driven, collaborative decision-making embedded within the established improvement planning procedures of ministries, agencies and schools. A better understanding of how MREI systems can be strengthened, fit better within systemsapproaches and lead to well-planned, sustainable systems change strategies is needed. Better Data & Reasonable Comparisons MREI processes should use reliable data sources to produce regular reports, data, advice and other resources based on carefully selected indicators which are related to system/ organizational performance over time as a tool to focus system reform and improvement. Effective MREI systems record changes over time in the local context, inputs, processes (programs, policies, practices) and outputs within or among students as well as changes in school conditions, improved policies and programs and increased organizational and professional capacities. (Note: School-based and school-linked programs can create short-term changes in health,social & emotional developments, knowledge, skills, social connections and attitudes. However these brief school programs (usually less than a year in duration) should not be seen as being responsible for long-term or life-long changes in behaviiours or conditions unless related interventions are continued later into the life course.) Reasonable comparisons and practice-focused knowledge exchange can occur among countries and communities in similar circumstances. Mechanisms supporting these exchanges among similar jurisdictions should be encouraged. The traditional approach which monitors one population or program across all contexts or conglomerate reporting by UN agencies via their regional offices can also be modified to address a variety of countries and communities. Better Information, Better Tools, Better MREI Practices Self-assessment tools can be used to improve programs but they are poor substitutes for ongoing monitoring & reporting. School recognition/small incentives programs are also used widely as are “success stories” which highlight accomplishments and more realistic “practice stories and planned or post-hoc case studies or program evaluations. Regularly published global, regional and national updates often gather together various data, evidence and stories about interventions, programs or approaches. Accreditation/award systems are used in countries with adequate resources, suitable governance systems and traditions of school inspections. Regular global, national/state surveys of policies and programs should be used gather data from the national, sub-national, local agency, school and practitioner levels from all of the systems engaged in the multi-component approaches, multi-intervention programs or large-scale interventions being used in the jurisdiction. Student learning in heath & life skills education should be among the subjects monitored in global, national and state education systems. Child and adolescent health, social, safety, environmental and other behaviours and attitudes as well as their connections with parents, schools, peers, community programs and employment/ training should be monitored by health, social protection and employment ministries through regular global, national and state surveys. Standardized teacher assessments of child and adolescent development can provide information on individual students for their teachers and on those cohorts of students to identify needed program adjustments. Accurate student health, education and other records as well as administrative data, especially the national Education Monitoring and Information Systems (EMIS) and student out of school/dropout rates are basic to any MREI system. Required reporting of violent incidents, suspensions from school, outbreaks, injuries, and student selection of health & life skills education courses in later grades can also be a source of data for monitoring the reach, access and needs of different approaches, programs and populations. These data sources can be consolidated in periodic reports on child, adolescent and young adult educational progress, health and social development. The initial education, qualifications, access to ongoing development, attitudes, concerns and the capacities of education and other faculties to prepare teachers, other educators and professionals who work in or with schools should be part of ongoing MREI systems in educational success, health & social development. Evaluating MREI Practices and Investments MREI practices in school-based and school-linked equity, health and social development are under-developed and inadequately funded. Scarce resources often limit our capacity to evaluate programs, let alone monitoring their reach, implementation, required capacities or sustainability. Consequently, more applied research is needed to avoid repeating our mistakes in publishing one-time reports that are disconnected from systems-level decision-making. This summary was first posted in May 2010 and revised in 2016 and 2021. Currently it has been posted as a "first edition" version. The following individuals or organizations have contributed to the development of this topic; Albert Lee, Christine Beyer, Nancy Hudson, Candace Currie, Vivian Barnekow,Said Arnaout,Suleiman El Shehri, Raj’a Omar, Faten Ben Abdel Aziz, Lloyd J. Kolbe, Sean Slade, Seung Lee, Dean Brooks, Doug McCall. We encourage readers to submit comments or suggested edits by posting a comment on the Mini-blog & Discussion Page for this section or posting a comment below: Text
This summary was first posted in June 2012. Currently it has been posted as an "excerpt/adaptation", "first draft" or "revised draft" and "first or revised edition" version. The following individuals or organizations have contributed to the development of this topic. We encourage readers to submit comments or suggested edits by posting a comment on the Mini-blog & Discussion Page for this section or posting a comment below: Due to the length of Handbook Sections (similar to a book chapter) prepared for this web site and knowledge exchange program, we post these documents as separate documents. Click on this web link to access the draft or completed version on this topic. Come back to this page to post any comments or suggestions. Bibliography/Toolbox on
Key research, reports and resources on this topic are highlighted below. Many of the topics in this web site also have extensive bibliographies/toolboxes (BTs) published as separate documents. Click on this web link to access the full version of our Bibliography/Toolbox on this topic. These lists use our outline for these collections that we have developed over several years of curating these materials.
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